"Alt-right" Parading Ignorance, Stupidity, Malice, Etc.

[Galaxian]

Gas Music From Jupiter

Thank you for the 'music' link. Though I've never been an aficionado of Stockhausen, Cage, or their ilk

Looks as though doing three years of philosophy and history at this University did me no good."

Yes, I agree with you there. Philosophy at Sydney University is only bettered by philosophy at an avant-garde French university, where such rubbish as the following is formulated:
http://www.rationalape.com/2010/12/post ... rator.html
Click on the link directly to the left of the skull at top of the page, to generate your own profound philosophical treatise, ready for publication in a postmodernist rag.
Here's Richard Dawkins take on this trash: http://www.physics.nyu.edu/sokal/dawkins.html
And how Alan Sokal revealed the fraud in all its naked glory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGe5SDgsHtU


Here's the beginning of my own computer generated profundity. You can probably do better, since it only took 2 seconds!

The Iron Fruit: Sontagist camp, nihilism and neotextual cultural
theory
Thomas C. Dietrich

Department of Semiotics, University of California, Berkeley

1. The postdialectic paradigm of consensus and semioticist capitalism

“Class is responsible for the status quo,” says Foucault. But Bataille
suggests the use of semioticist capitalism to modify sexual identity. The
subject is contextualised into a neotextual cultural theory that includes
narrativity as a totality.
Therefore, Drucker[1] states that we have to choose
between neotextual construction and the dialectic paradigm of expression.
Sontag’s analysis of semioticist capitalism holds that reality has
significance, given that presemanticist theory is invalid. ...." Etc.

[Galaxian]

As for Septimius Severus, I did not describe him as a negroid. You, however, wrote about "Northern Africans [who] were a vassal subject peoples to Rome", and Septimius Severus's heritage was of both. He certainly was not of Roman stock. Generally you would have discovered, had you studied ancient Roman history even just in passing, that is, that people from the conquered provinces were increasingly integrated over time into even the upper strata of Roman society and administration.
As for "naval gazing" I doubt that Mike Stuchbery spent a great deal of time looking at military equipment of the floating kind, and calling him a nincompoop is not exactly the most convincing riposte I have read against his, or anyone else's argument either. Similarly, it would have served you better to find something substantial, If you can, that refutes the evidence dug up in York and elsewhere than to label Hella Eckardt as a disinfo agent. I provided a link to the evidence in my previous post, and I am fairly sure I know why you ignored its substance.

Infact, Septimius Severus was from a wealthy family, very much of European stock. His mother was Roman, his father was Punic, which is basically Phoenician or 'Lebanese'.
As I stated before, North Africa was more Caucasian then than it is now. It became more Semitic with the Arab invasions from 642AD onwards. Previous to that it had a large percentage of Greek, 'Italian', Hispanic, and 'Lebanese' extraction. The Eastern Mediterraneans at that time were also more European than they are now.
As I have already said, the enforced cultural diversity that we have now was not in play at that time. Peoples mixed gradually over time due to trade and slow cultural exchange. Rapid change only occurred with conquest, such as the previous invasions of N. Africa by Europeans (that displaced the Moors) and the later Arab invasions (that displaced the Europeans).
There was no love lost between the original N. Africans, mainly Moors, and the invading Greeks & Romans who stole the Moors' lands. So this rosy idea that you seem to have of a lovey-dubby, non-racist culture around the periphery of the Mediterranean is irrational.
However, having studied 'philosophy' you would know better. Stay on track baba, stay on track...

Families who have lived in the English-Scottish Borders for generations could be descended from African soldiers who patrolled Hadrian's Wall nearly 2,000 years ago.
Archaeologists say there is compelling evidence that a 500-strong unit of Moors manned a fort near Carlisle in the third century AD.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... icans.html

There is some Spanish influence on coastal North & West of Scotland & Ireland due to the Armada survivors, and in Holland since it was a Spanish colony. But no Moorish influence in Scotland worth mentioning.
Archaeologists hold their jobs according to their contributions. If there is no valid contribution to make, then make a bogus one. Any old rubbish will do, since pulp purveyors, such as The Telegraph, also need gee-wiz! type propaganda to sell more copies.
People are always too ready to accept the wishful thinking scenario rather than the cold hard truth.
In all my travels & living in Scotland I never saw any Moorish looking people. If there was a significant Moorish military unit near Hadrian's Wall (which is unlikely) they would have been called back as the Romans withdrew from Britain.

[Hermit]

Philosophy at Sydney University is only bettered by philosophy at an avant-garde French university, where such rubbish as the following is formulated

You don't even know ehat courses I studied, nor do you know what I agreed or disagreed with.

And how Alan Sokal revealed the fraud in all its naked glory

Postmodernism was criticised long before Sokal took the mickey out of a journal by seeing it publish his intentionally absurd article. At any rate, postmodernism is just one strand of many in the field of philosophy. I am hardly going to throw my books on epistemology, logic, utilitarianism, the Enlightenment, metaphysics, Marxism, fascism et cetera out because of it.

Septimius Severus was from a wealthy family

and his father came from one of the conquered provinces in Africa of which you said "Northern Africans [who] were a vassal subject peoples to Rome" and "vassals have ALWAYS been seen & treated as inferior peoples"

People are always too ready to accept the wishful thinking scenario rather than the cold hard truth.

I hope you realise that I am not picking on you personally. I would regard the utterances of anyone else who claims to visit planet Mars from time to time, and who regards an employee of Alex Jones's Infowars site as an intellectual with the exact same credibility, and indeed, pay them just as much of the respect they deserve.





Sorry for my pursuit of this derail, L'Emmerdeur, but I'm enjoying this too much to let go just yet, and anyway, YOU STARTED IT!

[pErvinalia]

Mars has the best history departments.

[Hermit]

Mars has the best history departments.

No! It's full of shit, just like any other.

And the sun doesn't shine out of it either.

[L'Emmerdeur]

Sorry for my pursuit of this derail, L'Emmerdeur, but I'm enjoying this too much to let go just yet, and anyway, YOU STARTED IT!

Heh, you won't get any grief from me. Though I try to respect rules I may encounter about staying 'on topic' I actually prefer that discussions flow freely and follow their braided channels as they develop.

[JimC]

Sorry for my pursuit of this derail, L'Emmerdeur, but I'm enjoying this too much to let go just yet, and anyway, YOU STARTED IT!

Heh, you won't get any grief from me. Though I try to respect rules I may encounter about staying 'on topic' I actually prefer that discussions flow freely and follow their braided channels as they develop.

Rules about staying on topic?

In Ratz?

[pErvinalia]

The only rulez at ratz is: rEv must not call 42 a mental retard!

[Galaxian]

...postmodernism is just one strand of many in the field of philosophy. I am hardly going to throw my books on epistemology, logic, utilitarianism, the Enlightenment, metaphysics, Marxism, fascism et cetera out because of it.

Septimius Severus was from a wealthy family

and his father came from one of the conquered provinces in Africa of which you said "Northern Africans [who] were a vassal subject peoples to Rome" and "vassals have ALWAYS been seen & treated as inferior peoples"

Having studied philosophy, no doubt you'd be aware of "The exception that proves the rule"? Maybe not, since you admitted:

Looks as though doing three years of philosophy and history at this University did me no good."

Which I agreed with.

I hope you realise that I am not picking on you personally. I would regard the utterances of anyone else who claims to visit planet Mars from time to time, and who regards an employee of Alex Jones's Infowars site as an intellectual with the exact same credibility, and indeed, pay them just as much of the respect they deserve.

Oh, not just Mars. Plenty of other off-Earth places as well... Paid a good hourly rate as a bonus!
But please keep your feet firmly planted on terra-firma lest you get a touch of vertigo...

[Galaxian]

Mars has the best history departments.

Which is actually true. But how did you know? You must have been there too! Time to own up.

[Hermit]

no doubt you'd be aware of "The exception that proves the rule"?

I am pleased to see you doing a little backtracking. At least you now recognise an exception to what you previously said, which was "vassals have ALWAYS been seen & treated as inferior peoples". Had you actually read up on the matter you so categorically pontificate about, you would have found more exceptions yourself. I doubt you'll do that, though. Dunning Kruger types with delusions of being experts in all fields under the sun generally don't feel any compunction to familiarise themselves with the requisite facts that would actually make them experts.

Bye for now. I've had enough fun with you for the time being. I'll take a break before boredom gets to me.

[L'Emmerdeur]

Mary Beard, whose credentials regarding Roman history are impeccable, weighed in on the question of an ethnically diverse Roman presence in Britain, and was promptly attacked by trolls, as well as getting a negative response from Nassim Nicholas Taleb (a statistician, former trader, and risk analyst, author of The Black Swan).

"Roman Britain in Black and White"

It all started when an “alt-right” commenter picked up on a BBC schools video that featured a family in Roman Britain in which the father, a high ranking soldier, was presented as black (as it is a cartoon it is harder to be more precise than that). The commenter objected both on twitter and on an online site. ‘The left’ he wrote, ‘ is literally trying to rewrite history to pretend Britain always had mass immigration.’

Several people objected to this criticism before me, notable Mike Stuchbery, who pointed out on Twitter quite a lot of the evidence for ethnic and cultural diversity in the province. I came in quite late to say that the video was ‘pretty accurate’. I think, for example, that the BBC character was loosely based (with a bit of a chronological shift) on Quintus Lollius Urbicus, a man from what is now Algeria, who became governor of Britain; you can still visit his grand tomb at Tiddis. If you want some more information on that accuracy, then try the blog of Neville Morley or of Matthew Nicholls; thanks to both for the support — and to the many others who have spoken up.

Generally this seems to be a case of historians on one side and self-appointed crusaders against perceived 'political correctness' on the other.

[Galaxian]

Mary Beard, whose credentials regarding Roman history are impeccable, weighed in on the question of an ethnically diverse Roman presence in Britain, and was promptly attacked by trolls, as well as getting a negative response from Nassim Nicholas Taleb (a statistician, former trader, and risk analyst, author of The Black Swan).
"Roman Britain in Black and White"

It all started when an “alt-right” commenter picked up on a BBC schools video that featured a family in Roman Britain in which the father, a high ranking soldier, was presented as black (as it is a cartoon it is harder to be more precise than that). The commenter objected both on twitter and on an online site. ‘The left’ he wrote, ‘ is literally trying to rewrite history to pretend Britain always had mass immigration.’
Several people objected to this criticism before me, notable Mike Stuchbery, who pointed out on Twitter quite a lot of the evidence for ethnic and cultural diversity in the province. I came in quite late to say that the video was ‘pretty accurate’. I think, for example, that the BBC character was loosely based (with a bit of a chronological shift) on Quintus Lollius Urbicus, a man from what is now Algeria, who became governor of Britain; you can still visit his grand tomb at Tiddis. If you want some more information on that accuracy, then try the blog of Neville Morley or of Matthew Nicholls; thanks to both for the support — and to the many others who have spoken up.

Would that be the same Quintus Lollius Urbicus as this one?
http://i.skyrock.net/9973/19589973/pics/757207338.jpg

He looks really, really Moroccan. Even his name gives it away: Quintus Lollius Urbicus! A real Moroccon Berber name if ever I saw one.
Perhaps you noticed the propagandist, spin-doctored tone of the main stream news. No? Then there's no hope for you.
You'd feel at home in any totalitarian State, where you simply imbibe the propaganda from the official "experts". It must be true; they're the experts. Their credentials are "impeccable". The Fuhrer has spoken! God has revealed Himself. The Prophet...may peace be upon Him, has made His revelation! How dare we challenge it based on logic & deduction & even plain common sense?
Let me correct this for you:

Generally this seems to be a case of historians [paid or gullible or spineless shills] on one side and self-appointed crusaders against perceived 'political correctness' on the other.

Did it occur to you that a university professor & TV celebrity knows which side of her toast is buttered? They who pay the fiddler, call the tune. And in addition, does an outlier upset a general verity?

It's for these reasons Galaxian sees NO HOPE for this species. It's too stupid, naive & gullible. Can easily be stampeded over a cliff!

[Brian Peacock]

...

It is for these reasons that Galaxian sees NO HOPE for this species. It is too stupid, naive & gullible. Can be led by the nose over a cliff!

I'm with you there brother - far, far too much magical thinking among our species. It's kinda pathological with us, wouldn't you agree?

[Galaxian]

...
It is for these reasons that Galaxian sees NO HOPE for this species. It is too stupid, naive & gullible. Can be led by the nose over a cliff!

I'm with you there brother - far, far too much magical thinking among our species. It's kinda pathological with us, wouldn't you agree?

Thanks Brian. Not often I'm understood here. 99% of the time the butt of guffaws & snide attacks. Your comment is tops